Thursday, January 23, 2014

Another week, another landslide of stories about the torrid mistreatment of LGBT people.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin
reinforced his disgusting attitude towards LGBT people in the run-up to
the Winter Olympics in Sochi, saying gay people should leave children
in peace.

In Nigeria, gay men are being rounded up, arrested, tortured
and whipped because of their sexuality. We need to fight homophobia
internationally and at home.

In Ireland,
discourse surrounding LGBT rights will amplify in the run-up to 2015’s
referendum on marriage equality, as well as upcoming legislation
concerned with matters of adoption.

Teachings of the Catholic Church
on homosexuality are homophobic.

Hopefully, those teachings will
evolve, as other teachings have. Most of the prominent voices in the
Irish media who oppose marriage being extended to same-sex couples
represent a Catholic point of view, organisation, or the church itself.

At the time of writing, the performer and businessman Rory O’Neill has
received four solicitors’ letters from associates of the Iona Institute objecting to a brief discussion on the nuances of subtle homophobia in Irish society on Brendan O’Connor’s Saturday Night Show on RTÉ. Trivialisation

RTÉ
also received legal correspondence including a letter on behalf of
columnist John Waters, leading the station to remove the programme from
the RTÉ Player.

It was later reinstated with O’Neill’s interview edited.

But that’s not all.

Last week, Ryan Tubridy’s show ran an item asking
listeners to text in if they had a “GBF”, or a “gay best friend”.

I’m
sure there was no harm intended, but there wasn’t much thought put into
it either.

The trivialisation of gay people as valid only in the context
of their friendships with non-gay people, or as some kind of accessory
may be “fun” to discuss, but it is also silly and othering.

On Thursday The God Slot,
a religious programme on RTÉ Radio One tweeted “Can gays be cured of
being gay?” ahead of a broadcast.

It doesn’t matter what the answer was,
the question is offensive and stupid.

The idiocy continued with The God Slot
Twitter account hysterically replying to one Twitter user, “can
questions not be posed in this age of fascism masquerading as
liberalism?”

This trend of shouting down fair accusations of
discrimination is as transparent as it is insidious.

Everyone is scared of being labelled a
racist.

Yet the term “homophobia” is being wrestled from LGBT people, as
if they are not able to identify it when they see it.

Today, it almost
feels as though when you call someone on homophobia, the alleged
perpetrator reacts as if it is he or she who has been victimised.

In the lead-up to the referendum on marriage
equality next year, there is a need for an independent homophobia
watchdog to monitor the inevitable destructive rhetoric that will colour
one side of the debate, without fear of legal repercussions.

Depictions
of LGBT people in the media that in any way infer that their
relationships or parenting skills are inferior to those of heterosexuals
should be condemned.

Unlike in some countries, Irish law does not
permit the execution of gay people, but that doesn’t mean homophobia
doesn’t exist.

Anti-equality rhetoric both in the
media and enshrined in legislation is, in my opinion, directly
responsible for physical and verbal attacks on gay people. It creates an
invisible atmosphere that gives homophobic people a sense of
entitlement. It can be subtle or blatant; it can be words or knives.

“Free
speech” is not a free pass to inflict psychological trauma just because
you don’t want lesbians or gay people to get married. Opponents of
marriage equality are not the victims in this debate.

In Ireland, LGBT people have been beaten,
murdered, bullied, verbally abused, fired, shouted at in the streets,
ghettoised and othered for decades and longer.

Remarkably, this culture
of discrimination against LGBT people in Ireland has not resulted in a
victim complex, but in a brave resilience. If there’s anger, it is in
O’Neill’s own words, a righteous anger.

LGBT people have risen out of a
darkness imposed by society, with dignity, to become fine leaders and
fine people.

LGBT people have supported each other; they have been there
for each other to heal the psychological trauma of harassment and
discrimination.

Political capital

While LGBT
citizens have contributed vast amounts to our society, culture and
economy, the State has twiddled its thumbs, wondering whether and when
political capital can be gained from letting a majority decide on the
rights of a minority.

Meanwhile, the media encourages religious doctrine
articulated on secular legislation for the sake of “debate”.

And when
any issue of discrimination is raised, there are legal teams waiting in
the wings to claim doublethink victimhood.

An
enlightened Irish public is now overwhelmingly in favour of marriage
equality.

So if opponents of full equality for LGBT citizens want a
fight, they should prepare for defeat, with dignity.